It will blow over. That was the idea for a long time during the Q fever outbreak in 2007. Only after thousands of people fell ill and after a long delay, did the government stop the epidemic in 2010.
With Q fever, it took nearly three years before farmers were required to report contamination.
Mariet Paes, then director of the Provincial Health Council in Brabant, does see differences between the corona crisis and the Q fever epidemic: “COVID-19 already got A status at the end of January, so that it was mandatory to report infection. With the Q fever, it took almost three years before farmers were obliged to do so. ”
Since the outbreak, knowledge about the coronavirus has been worked on worldwide. That was very different with the Q fever, but it soon became clear that this bacteria should be tackled at the source: in the farmer’s yard. And that is difficult with a political gap between health care and the interest of the farmer.
Medical historian Floor Haalboom previously wrote about which interests weigh most heavily when people become ill with animals: public health or the agricultural sector. Her conclusion: economic interests always prevail.
An advice from the Outbreak Management Team now goes directly to the House of Representatives and the media.
The importance of communication now seems to have dawned on the government, which publishes every development surrounding the corona virus. That was different during the Q fever, says Paes: “It disturbed me at the time that patients were so poorly informed, while people from Brabant had many questions and fears.”
Roel Coutinho, former director at RIVM, thinks that is also a profit: “An advice from the Outbreak Management Team is now going directly to the House of Representatives and the media.”
How do the ministers involved look back on the approach to the Q fever? Read it on Follow the Money
But the real test of whether Q fever has been learned is not the corona crisis, but another outbreak of disease that spreads to people from farm animals.
A modern virus can infect 18 million people in 48 hours.
Jos van de Sande, former head of infectious disease control at the GGD, is not sure: “The contacts between doctors for humans and doctors for animals are better nowadays. But not at a local level, there GPs and vets still hardly talk to each other. And ministries always want a compromise. That does not work in a crisis situation. ”
New health crises are already lurking, says Alfons Olde Loohuis, GP in Herpen when Q fever started. “The plague took four years to travel from China to Europe. A modern virus can infect 18 million people in 48 hours. ”
Olde Loohuis continues: “In Europe, tick encephalitis is knocking on the door, a viral disease that is transmitted to humans via rodents and tick bites.”
Want to know more about the diseases that we may become acquainted with in the future? Read it on Follow the Money
Certainly: after Q fever and after corona there will be another animal-derived disease that will turn society upside down. The only question is: when?
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Omroep Brabant reconstructed together with research website Follow the Money the Q fever epidemic between 2007 and 2011. This is the last part, read the other parts here:
- Richard had been touched by Q fever for years, now he wants the bottom stone above
- How Q fever has been playing hide and seek for decades
- How Q fever was initially not seen in 2007 and later grossly underestimated
- Q fever was able to take hold because the government always chose goat farmers
- The goat sector is growing despite Q fever and other health risks
- The Q fever epidemic is over, but we are not done with the disease
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